The right wing of the plane erupted in flames after it landed at Changi Airport. Photo: Twitter/@aDiLahLovatics

A Singapore Airlines Ltd (SIA) flight to Milan caught fire early on Monday after returning to Singapore's Changi airport following an engine oil warning message but all passengers were safe, the airline and airport officials said.

The aircraft's right engine caught fire after the aircraft, a Boeing 777-300ER, touched down at Changi airport at around 6:50 am (2250 GMT). Emergency services put out the fire and there were no injuries to the 222 passengers and 19 crew on board, a SIA statement said.

"Passengers disembarked through stairs and were transported to the terminal building by bus. Passengers will be transferred to another aircraft which is expected to depart for Milan later today," the statement said.

The SIA flight, SQ368, departed at 2:05 am, but about two hours into the flight the pilot announced there was an engine problem and the flight would return to Singapore, Channel News Asia reported.

SIA's only accident resulting in casualties was a flight from Singapore to Los Angeles via Taipei, where it crashed on Oct. 31, 2000 into construction equipment on the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport after attempting to take off from the wrong runway. The crash killed 83 of the 179 people on board.